Overview

Inscription

Marks and Labels

Provenance

Possibly commissioned for a convent or church in Valladolid, Spain.[1] Before 1919, José María de Palacio, Conde de las Almenas, Madrid;[2] sold 28 March 1919 to (Frank Partridge and Sons, Ltd., London).[3] Dr. Preston Pope Satterwhite [1867-1948], New York, by 1933;[4] possibly purchased by (French & Co., New York).[5] purchased 1941 by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[6] gift 1952 to NGA.

[1] The probable patronage of the Catholic Kings has led Van der Put and subsequent commentators to posit that the altarpiece was commissioned for a church or convent in Valladolid. Albert van der Put, typescript, c. 1922, in NGA curatorial files. The painting has qualities characteristic of Spanish paintings in northern Castile during the reign of the Catholic Kings. Among cities in the region, Valladolid was the one most favored by the monarchs, who occasionally held court there. The theory that the panels were intended for an institution in Valladolid is plausible, but cannot be regarded as certain. Even if the paintings were created in northern Castile, they could have been commissioned for an institution in another part of Spain.

[2] This painting is shown hanging on a wall of the Madrid residence of the Conde de las Almenas in a photograph in Arthur Byne and Mildred Shapley, Spanish Interiors and Furniture, 2 vols. (New York, 1922), 2: pl. 109.

[3] Frank Partridge, memorandum, 1924, in the files of the Frick Art Reference Library, New York.

[5] From Colin Eisler, Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: European Schools Excluding Italian (Oxford, 1977), 178 and provenance card, NGA curatorial files; however in her 26 August 1988 letter, Martha Hepworth of the Getty Provenance Index indicates that these panels do not appear in the French & Co. stock books, which are now at the Getty. Robert Samuels, Jr., a representative of French & Co., searched the French & Co. records still kept at the New York office, but also was unable to find any references to the two panels.

Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 70-71, no. 52, color repro.

Technical Summary

The original support is composed of three vertically oriented pieces of pine.
An addition approximately 19 cm tall, consisting of several pieces of pine with
vertical grain, is attached to the bottom of the original support.[1] The
irregular line of damage along the lower edge of the original support suggests
that the addition may have replaced a destroyed part of the original composition.
A modern cradle is attached to the composite panel. The original support is
covered by a thick white ground probably composed of two layers. There appears
to be a thicker, lower layer with fibrous inclusions (grass?) and a second,
thinner ground layer without fibers above. The ground on the added pieces has
a markedly different composition from the ground on the original support.
The composition was underdrawn on the original support in a black liquid,
probably applied with a brush. Broad parallel and cross-hatched strokes
define the figures and primary details of the setting in the underdrawing.
A downward shift in the eyes, lips, and nose of the Christ Child is the only
major change between the underdrawing and the painting. The main lines of the
architecture were incised in the ground layer. A
thin, brown imprimatura is thought to cover the ground beneath the paint layer; the tonality of the imprimatura was used as a base for the faces of the doctors, but elsewhere is covered over with thick opaque paint. Oil paint was applied in a variety of techniques, ranging from carefully built-up opaque layers with some slightly raised brush texture to thin, translucent glazes. The painting is in stable condition, although the panel is penetrated by cracks and checks. X-radiographs indicate scattered losses of paint.

[1] The woods used for the original support and additions were analyzed by
Michael Palmer, NGA scientific department.